Sask. reports 8 COVID-19 deaths, 213 new cases

An employee is pictured at the Roy Romanow Provincial Lab. (Supplied)

REGINA — Saskatchewan reported eight COVID-19 deaths and 213 new cases on Friday, along with 148 recoveries.

Seven of the eight deaths were reported in Regina; one person was in their 50s, three were in their 60s and three were older than 80. The eighth death was a person in their 50s in the Northwest zone.

Of the 213 new cases, 104 – or 49 per cent – are in the Regina zone. The rest of the new cases are in the Far Northwest (four), Far Northeast (five), Northwest (ten), North Central (nine), Northeast (eight), Saskatoon (34), Central West (one), Central East (three), South Central (14) and Southeast (13) zones. Eight new cases are pending residence information.

There are 155 people in hospital; 22 people are in the ICU.

The Regina zone has the greatest number of hospitalizations. There are 53 people in hospital, 16 of them are in the ICU.

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

The province reported 91 additional variants of concern (VoC). So far, the province has identified 1,155 VoC in six zones – the Far North East (one), Saskatoon (18), Central East (24), Regina (973), South Central (70) and South East (69).

Labs have confirmed the lineage of 473 VoC cases through whole genome sequencing; there are 465 B.1.1.7 cases and eight B.1.3.5.1 cases in the province.

The Regina zone accounts for 84 per cent of all variant cases in the province.

VACCINES

There were 6,941 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered on Thursday.

The shots were given in the Far Northwest (231), Far Northeast (43), Northwest (385), North Central (48), Northeast (481), Saskatoon (1,925), Central West (34), Central East (1,994), Regina (1,217) and South Central (583) zones.

According to the province, 73 per cent of people older than 80 have received their first dose, along with one third of people in their 70s.

The SHA said its expected shipment of 21,300 Moderna vaccines would be delayed up to six days.

The health authority said some appointments will be impacted, but it will notify patients directly next week.